Ballroom
by darkotter
Summary: Our favorite samurai find themselves going to a ball...
1. The ball

Before we start, I want to tell you that this is my _very_ first piece that I am posting on and would like to hear your oppinions! Is it good or bad? Is it funny? ect. And I got this idea when I was in Chem. class, and the teacher was just talking, and then all of a sudden I got this image of Heihachi in a tux, and I don't know why I saw _him_ and not Kyuzo, but what ever. I hope you like it, I had alot of fun writing it!!!

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Ballroom

"I don't see why we have to wear these," Heihachi muttered as he fiddled with the black bow tie around his neck. Shichiroji glanced up from straightening his jacket.

"Stop messing with it Heihachi, it looks fine. And because it's a dance. We have to dress up. Anyway, there will be ladies there, so we have to look nice." He commented as he looked back at his reflection in the mirror, continuing to straighten his jacket. He looked up again when a crash from the next room vibrated through the wall.

"I don't…"

"Oh come on Kyuzo! It's just _one_ evening! It's not like it'll kill you. It's for _fun_!" Gorobei's voice could be heard through the wall.

"Stop being so stubborn. You _do_ know what fun is, don't y-- Hey! Don't point your swords at me!" Kikuchiyo yelled. There was a clang of metal on metal and a loud exclamation of "OW!" from Kikuchiyo again.

"That's it! I'm takin' your swords!" There were more crashing, a thud of someone falling on the ground, and then a laugh of triumph from Kikuchiyo.

Heihachi and Shichiroji peered around the door to look in the room. What they saw amazed them. Gorobei was standing to one side, holding Kyuzo's two swords. Kikuchiyo was standing in the middle of the room, with his foot on Kyuzo's back, holding him down. And then there was Kyuzo, laying flat on his stomach with Kikuchiyo's foot holding him down, with a look of pure venom in his gaze.

"What are you guys _doing_?!" Shichiroji exclaimed, walking into the room with Heihachi following him.

"Kyuzo wasn't going to come! He _attacked_ me! With his swords… well, he is coming _now_." Kikuchiyo explained to Shichiroji and Heihachi.

"Get off…" Kyuzo muttered, his blonde hair covering his face.

"Ok, ok." Kikuchiyo said, moving his foot off of Kyuzo's back. Kyuzo stood up, glaring at Kikuchiyo and Gorobei, brushing his hair out of his eyes, and dusting the tux that he wore.

"Oh, come on! You don't look half-bad in a tux." Gorobei laughed, still holding Kyuzo's swords. "Anyway, we're all wearing them! Not like your going to stand out or anything."

Kyuzo just glared at Gorobei. "Can I have my swords?" he asked Gorobei. Gorobei looked at Kyuzo for a second.

"Fine. But you have to come with us." Gorobei said as he handed Kyuzo his swords.

"What are you guys doing?! Come on, we're going to be late." Kambei walked in, wearing a tux like the rest of them and Katsushiro came after. He looked at Kikuchiyo and Gorobei and then at Kyuzo, who was muttering something under his breath about the ball.

"Yea, we're ready! We had a little trouble--" Gorobei glanced at Kyuzo, "getting Kyuzo into the tux, but we finally got him into it."

"Come on, then! Let's go." Kambei said to the group. He walked out of the door, followed by Katsushiro, then Heihachi, then Shichiroji, and then Gorobei. Kyuzo stopped in the doorway, trying to go back into the room, but Kikuchiyo stopped him.

"Nope! You're coming with us!" Kikuchiyo said as he pushed him through. Kyuzo glared at him, but followed the others down the hall.

They all carried their weapons, as protection as well as out of habit. Someone would have had to carry Kyuzo away if they told him to leave his swords in the room. They knew that. That's why they didn't try; they knew they would get injured, and plus, they were also bringing their weapons.

They walked down the hallway, and stopped by a door.

"Ok, so this is a _dance_, not a fight, so no one start any," Kambei said to the surrounding samurai. They all nodded, except for Kyuzo, but when Kambei looked at him, he grunted. "Ok, come on."

He pushed the door open and they walked into a splendid entrance hall, lighted by many candles and full of people. Across the hall was another door, where a man was seeing people into the ballroom. They crossed the entrance hall, and stopped in front of the man in the black tux, like their own. He had a small black, curly mustache and small eyes.

"I'm sorry sirs, but you are not allowed to bring weapons into the ballroom," He said, stopping them before they walked in. They glanced at each other. Heihachi shrugged, took off his sword, and placed it against the wall. Shichiroji followed suit, placing his staff next to Heihachi's sword. There was a loud clattering noise and everyone looked around. Kikuchiyo looked up at everyone.

"Oops…" he said, picking up his sword, which he had dropped. He placed it next to the other two weapons and followed to where Heihachi and Shichiroji stood. Gorobei had already placed his sword next to Heihachi's. Kambei shook his head but untied his sword and placed it against the wall and Katsushiro followed. Only Kyuzo stood. He made no motion to remove his swords. The rest of the samurai just stared at him. He walked towards them, but the man stopped him.

"I'm sorry sir, you cannot enter with your swords!" the man said to Kyuzo. He narrowed his eyes.

"Uh oh… looks like we should… um… _intervene_." Heihachi said to the other samurai, for Kyuzo was looking like he was about to pull his swords out.

"I'm sorry sir! But I just cannot let you enter!" the man said, louder this time, stepping in front of Kyuzo. He reached up and was about to draw his swords but Heihachi and Shichiroji grabbed him. They grappled for a second or two but finally they stood, panting, with Kyuzo's swords.

"Oh, come on Kyuzo. Can't you part with them for just _one_ evening?" Gorobei joked as Kyuzo followed them, with Heihachi and Shichiroji close behind.

They walked into the ballroom and stopped. The ballroom was filled with people. Yukino walked up to Shichiroji. She smiled at the rest of the samurai and then placed a hand on Shichiroji's arm.

Katsushiro kept looking around, standing on his toes, as if he was looking for someone. He stopped at the sight of Kirara. She was dressed in a splendid pink and lavender dress, with many folds and frills. Gorobei chuckled, and walked up behind Katsushiro.

"Come on. Go ask her to dance!" Gorobei said to Katsushiro. Katsushiro jumped and looked around, blushing.

"I-I don't k-know what you m-mean!" he said, his cheeks turning a brighter red. Kirara turned, saw the samurai,and walked over to them.

"I'm so glad that you could make it! I was getting worried that you weren't going to come!" She said, smiling.

"We had some… _difficulties_ getting started," Shichiroji said, glancing at Kyuzo, Yukino's hand on his arm. Kirara followed where he had glanced and nodded, for Kyuzo looked very unhappy for being there. She looked around, and her gaze rested on Katsushiro. His head was bowed, and his face was red.

"Katsushiro, would you… would you like to dance?" she asked him, talking his hand.

"Oh… well, um… yes," Katsushiro said, blushing even more and following Kirara onto the dance floor. Yukino shook her head, smiling and then looked at Shichiroji.

"Come on honey, let's dance." She said, taking his hand with hers and leading him onto the dance floor and started to dance. Kikuchiyo sighed loudly and walked over to a chair, where he slumped down. Moments later, Komachi appeared.

"Oh, come on, Kiku!" she said to him, taking his hand. She dragged him over to where they could sit together. Heihachi scratched the back of his head, watching Kikuchiyo and Komachi.

"Those two…" he muttered, not really talking to anyone. He looked around, turned, and headed to the buffet, where rice was waiting for him. Kambei wandered over to the elder and started to talk. Gorobei wondered over to a group of performers.

Kyuzo was left alone, off to one side. He muttered something under his breath and walked over to where he could lean against the wall. People continued to dance, not taking much notice to Kyuzo, standing near the wall. He really didn't want to be there. Some people, how ever, were taking notice very much to Kyuzo. A group of girls were huddled together; talking quietly to each other and sending glances at Kyuzo. Heihachi wandered over, with a riceball in his hand. He was passing the group of girls, but stopped when he heard Kyuzo's name.

"He's so quiet…"

"Wonder if he likes to dance..."

"You should go ask him…"

Heihachi stood there, listening to them. _Were they seriously thinking of asking Kyuzo to dance?_ Heihachi asked himself. _Apparently so…_ He thought as one of the girls broke from the group. She wandered over to where Kyuzo was standing.

"Would you dance with me?" she asked him quietly. "Because I noticed that you haven't danced with anyone yet."

Kyuzo turned to her, an odd look in his eyes but his face giving nothing away, staying as neutral as ever. He narrowed his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He turned his head away from her to gaze again at the dance floor. The girl looked put-out, her shoulders drooping, and she walked back to the group of girls.

"What happened? Did he even say anything?" one girl asked the other.

"He didn't even answer," the girl said, looking a little hurt. Heihachi grinned. He knew that Kyuzo wouldn't have danced, but to say nothing... It was a little harsh on his part. He shrugged to himself, still holding his riceball and wandered over to where Kyuzo stood.

"Did you have to be so harsh Kyuzo? You didn't even answer her," Heihachi said to Kyuzo. Kyuzo just glanced at him but he didn't answer. Heihachi turned to look at him. "Why'd you even come?" he asked Kyuzo.

"Because they made me…" Kyuzo said, nodding towards Gorobei and Kikuchiyo. Heihachi just shook his head.

"Come on, Kyuzo… It's a party; you could at least have a good time." He said to Kyuzo, leaving his side and walking across the room. He glanced back at where Kyuzo stood, but he gave no sign that he had heard Heihachi. Heihachi turned back and continued to walk, shaking his head.

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Heihachi sat bolt up right in bed. He shook his head, trying to clear it of such an odd dream. "Whoa… that was a weird dream." He muttered to himself while he lay back down on his bed. He blinked his eyes, and then closed them. He fell asleep once more.

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Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters in this story. All original characters from Samurai 7, with a few little random things added in!


	2. The morning after

Ok, so this is the second Chapter to _Ballroom_, but it is only mentioned 3 times... but whatever. I am thinking of making another chapter, that will connect it together... and to all the people who liked _Ballroom_, I hope you like this chapter!

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Heihachi awoke the next morning with the dream still clear in his mind. He blinked in the light coming from the window. 

He got up, folded his bed up, placed it in the corner of the room, and got dressed. As he pulled his hat and goggles on over his orange hair, he thought about his dream.

_What an odd dream… I wonder where it came from. Maybe I've been eating too much rice before going to sleep._ He thought to himself as he strapped his sword onto his back.

He pushed the door open and wandered outside. He blinked again as the light blinded him momentarily._ Wonder where everyone is? _He thought, looking around.

The first person he saw was Shichiroji walking across to another house, his arms full of random papers, an inkbottle, and some brushes. He couldn't see where he was going over the mountain of objects in his arms and tripped over a rock on the ground.

Heihachi flinched as all the objects fell from Shichiroji's arms to lie on the ground.

"Oh, great!" Shichiroji muttered to himself, not noticing Heihachi standing by one of the buildings. He bent down to pick up all the papers scattered on the ground.

Heihachi watched Shichiroji muttering to himself as he picked up the shards of the inkbottle, whose contents had spilled over a third of the papers.

"Hey Shichiroji, what're you doing?" Heihachi said, walking over to him.

Shichiroji looked up from where he was crouching on the ground, holding the shards in his robotic hand. "I'm attempting to pick all these things up from the ground… and you could help me, you know?"

Heihachi nodded and crouched down next to Shichiroji, picking up the papers lying on the ground nearest to him. "What were you doing with all these papers?"

"Taking them to Kambei-sama… He needed more paper and ink. And of course, I had to get more then I could carry. I do that often…" Shichiroji said to Heihachi, holding the shards of the bottle in his hand. Heihachi just looked at him, papers in his arms.

"Ok, thanks Heihachi!" Shichiroji said as he stood up with some of the papers, the inkbottle shards, and the brush. "Here; I can take them now." He said, reaching over to grab the papers in Heihachi's arms. Heihachi shrugged.

"I can carry them if you want…" He said, looking at Shichiroji.

"Thanks… I know that I shouldn't get so much at one time…" Shichiroji said, shifting the things in his hands to move them to one arm, raising his free arm to scratch his head, and smiled. "Come on then!"

Heihachi followed Shichiroji with the papers to the house where the samurai planned for the battles. When they entered, no one was there. Shichiroji sighed and muttered something about being somewhere else. "Just put them down right here." He motioned to a table where he himself had placed the papers that he had been carrying.

"Ok." Heihachi said, dumping all the papers onto the table and looking around. "Wonder where everyone is…"

Shichiroji just shrugged. "Out training, working, whatever, and I am left here, doing _paperwork!_" He sighed again, and stacked the paper. Heihachi just watched him.

"Why? What paperwork?" Heihachi asked. Shichiroji just shrugged again. "Oh, come on… you get a break once and a while… come on… we should go train or something. Paperwork is _boring_! Training is more fun, or just a walk… and then we could get some rice!"

Shichiroji laughed. "You are really something, you know that Heihachi? All you ever think about is rice." He shook his head, but the look that Heihachi gave him made him laugh again. "Oh, would you stop that? You're bugging me! Well… I guess we could train… that would be more interesting."

Heihachi nodded enthusiastically. "Come on then! There is a training area not far from here. And on the way, I can tell you about my dream… it was _so _weird."

Shichiroji just stared at him. "Your _dream_?!"

"Yup… it was the strangest thing ever, but I'll tell you on the way, come on." He headed out of the house with Shichiroji following him. He scratched the back of his head, shaking it, and muttered something about Kambei not being happy once he found them training, but followed Heihachi all the same.

When they were on the way to the training area, Heihachi turned his head to Shichiroji and started to describe his dream.

"And then we went to a _dance_! It was very odd… and Yukino was there, and Kirara… and all these other people." Heihachi said, waving his hands animatedly. "And you guys danced… and there were these girls who wanted to dance with Kyuzo-dono." He finished, letting his hands fall to his side.

Shichiroji looked at him for a second or two before responding. "That is very odd… ever think you have eaten _too_ much rice?" Heihachi chuckled.

They arrived in the clearing where they used for training, but someone was already there. Gorobei and Katsushiro where standing there, in defensive stance, across from each other. It looked like Gorobei was giving Katsushiro a lesson. The young samurai stopped his circling of the older samurai and charged, his sword raised.

Heihachi and Shichiroji watched in amusement, as Gorobei stood where he was until Katsushiro neared him, and then jumped aside, tripping him with one of his feet.

Katsushiro stumbled, but he didn't fall, and stood up straight. Gorobei walked over to where Katsushiro stood, his head bowed in embarrassment, his face red.

"Come on boy, you have to be quicker than that!" Gorobei laughed, clapping Katsushiro on the shoulder.

"I know… but I just _can't!_" Katsushiro said, looking at Gorobei. Gorobei laughed again.

Just then, the two samurai noticed Heihachi and Shichiroji standing there. They both smiled.

"Good try, Katsushiro." Heihachi said, as he and Shichiroji walked more into the clearing. Katsushiro turned even redder.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad. Your just not as experienced at Gorobei-dono here." Shichiroji said to Katsushiro, nodding to where Gorobei still stood.

"Here, let us show you how, Katsushiro. Watch us." Shichiroji said, gripping his staff tightly. He nodded to Heihachi, who nodded with a smile. He reached back and drew his sword. Shichiroji held his staff and with a quick jerk, the blade sprung out of the end, and he pointed it at Heihachi. Heihachi grinned.

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Katsushiro watched as the older samurai trained. He was amazed at how fast they moved, and how they reacted. At one point, Gorobei joined into the training, so that the three samurai were against each other all at once. One time, both Shichiroji and Gorobei teamed up against Heihachi, and he had been forced to run away from them, and climb a tree. At that point, they had laughed at him when he got stuck trying to get back down.

Finally, they headed back to the village, all tired from their antics, especially Heihachi, because he got stuck in the tree. He had ended up falling out of the tree, covered in branches and leaves, to land on the ground by the feet of Gorobei and Shichiroji. They had laughed for along time after that, Shichiroji and Gorobei making fun of Heihachi, all the way back to the village.

Heihachi lay down on his bed, tired and sore from the day. His fall from the tree had left him bruised, but it was a fun day training. Just then he remembered his dream the night before. _I wonder… I wonder if I'll have another dream like that one…_he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

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_**Disclaimer**_ : I do not own Samurai 7 or any of the characters mentioned. All belong to Akira Kurosawa. 

-And special thanks to wolf-of-words, for being my beta, since I can be a spaz sometimes when it comes to that!


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